Self-adjusting hinge for surface heating unit



Dec. 2, 1 969 B. HURKO SELF-ADJUSTING HINGE FOR SURFACE HEATING UNIT- Filed Feb. 1, 1968 INVENTOR. BOHDA N HUR KO HKS ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,482,079 SELF-ADJUSTING HINGE FOR SURFACE HEATING UNIT Bohdan Hurko, Louisville, Ky., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Feb. 1, 1968, Ser. No. 702,220 Int. Cl. H05b 3/68, 3/06 US. Cl. 219-463 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a cooking appliance and particularly one with an electric surface heating unit having a vertically adjustable hinging means so that the unit may be raised to facilitate the ease of cleaning spillage from beneath the unit and may be lowered into a generally flush position. The hinging means has a simple snap-in mounting means which eliminates the need for a tool to attach the unit in place. Moreover, the hinging means has inherent frictional qualities so the unit may be self-supporting in any of its raised positions. The hinging means is located at one side of the unit where the electrical terminals of the heating unit are all grouped together so the terminals may extend through the hinging means. The hinging means comprises three elements: a cover plate, a drum and a bearing member for confining the drum against the cover plate. The cover plate has a relatively large opening, and the plate is located within the recess and surrounds the hole formed in the side thereof. On the outer side of the hole is a drum and it is held against the plate by a bearing member which is fastened to the plate and extends over the drum. A hinge arm is connected at one end to the unit and at its opposite end to the drum. The drum and its bearing member of the hinging mechanism are adapted to snap loosely through a hole in the side wall of a recess in the top surface of the cooking appliance. The bearing member carries adjustable fastening means which cooperate with the cover plate for holding the hinging means within the mounting hole. Openings are formed through the opposite sides of the drum and also through the bearing member whereby the electrical terminals may extend through the hinging means.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENTS The present invention is a modification of the surface heating unit hinging means of Patent 3,227,856 to Bohdan Hurko and Raymond L. Dills entitled Surface Unit Hinging Means for Spill-Proof Cooking Surface, which is also assigned to the General Electric Company, the assignee of the present invention.

I BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A standard electric range is provided with a top cooking surface having a plurality of large circular holes formed therethrough, on the order of four in number. Each hole has positioned therein a concave reflector pan that also has a large central opening. A metal sheathed resistance heating element wound in a flat spiral configuration is positioned across the top surface of the reflector pan. A hinge means is also provided for each heating unit so that the unit may be pivoted to a raised position and the reflector pan removed so that the drip box located beneath the top cooking surface may be maintained clean by being scrubbed periodically. One advantage in using the large holes in the cooking surface for mounting the heating unit is that only a small amount of heat is lost by conduction from the heating elements to the cooking surface. One main disadvantage in using 3,482,079 Patented Dec. 2, 1969 such holes is that food and especially liquids are likely to spill onto the reflector pan and drain out the bottom thereof into the drip box located under the cooking surface. It is a laborious task to keep this drip box clean since it is diflicult to reach all areas of the drip box through the holes in the cooking surface, and the lighting and hence the visibility within the box is poor. Moreover, the average housewife is reluctant to allow her hands to come in contact with the lead wires for the various heating units which are strung across the drip box. Hence a thorough cleaning job is difficult to obtain.

In recent years, the trend has been toward a spillproof cooktop where there are no holes formed therein. A spillproof cooktop is one with a relatively deep recess beneath each heating unit for accumulating any spillage that might occur. These recesses are generally formed with raised side walls and a small hole in the side wall for receiving a hinging means for the heating unit.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a hinging means for a surface heating unit of the class described where the hinging means is self-adjusting in a vertical direction to permit the surface unit to seek its own horizontal level generally flush with the top cooking surface.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a surface heating unit of the class described with a snap-in hinging means that eliminates the need for a tool to attach the hinging means to the cooktop.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a surface heating unit with a hinging means that has an inherent frictional characteristic to support the unit in any of its raised positions.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a surface heating unit with a hinging means that is substantially closed so that any spillage that occurs SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention, in accordance with one form thereof, relates to an electric surface heating unit and particularly to a means for hinging the unit in a hole in a side wall of a recess in a cooking appliance. The unit has a plurality of electrical terminals and they are grouped together so that they may extend through the hinging means. The hinging means comprises a cover plate surrounding the hole in the wall of the recess, a drum engaging the outer side of the cover plate and a bearing member fastened to the outer side of the plate and extending over the drum. Both the cover plate and the bearing member are formed with an opening for receiving the electrical terminals therethrough. Moreover, the drum is provided with a plurality of diametrically opposed openings for receiving the electrical terminals therethrough. A hinge arm is connected at one end to the heating unit and at its opposite end to the drum.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS My invention will be better understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

FIGURE 1 is a cross-sectional elevational view taken through the center of a surface heating unit embodying the present invention of a self-adjusting hinging means.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the right side of the heating unit of FIGURE 1 with the trim ring and the coil of the heating unit removed, and with parts broken away to best illustrate the hinging means of the present invention.

FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view of the three main elements which make up the hinging means of the present invention; namely, the cover plate, the drum with its integral hinge arm, and a U-shaped bracket member which is fastened to the cover plate for holding the drum against the outer side of the cover plate.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional elevational view of the right side of the surface heating unit of FIGURE 1 showing the heating unit in its highest raised position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Turning now to a consideration of the drawings, and in particular to FIGURE 1, there is shown a horizontal cooking surface having a pan-shaped recess 11 in its top surface which is substantially imperforate except for a generally rectangularly shaped hole 12 formed in a side wall 13 of the recess. Suspended across the top opening of the recess 11 is an electric surface heating unit 15 that comprises a metal sheathed resistance heating element 17 wound in a flat spiral configuration, a shallow inverted reflector pan 18 underlying the heating element 17, and a bottom plate 20 which is disposed under the reflector pan 18 and may be considered as a second reflector pan. The heating element 15 has an inner helical coil of resistance wire such as Nichrome that is packed in a suitable thermal insulating material such as magnesium oxide, and there is a tubular metal jacket or sheath all as is standard in this art. The particular heating element 15 shown comprises two separate coils, hence there are four electrical terminals 22 which are grouped together at one side of the unit and arranged in close side-by-side relation for extending through a hinging means 24 embodying the present invention.

The shallow reflector pan 18 is of drawn shape with a central disc 26 substantially filling the opening 23 that is created by the smallest turn of the spiral heating element as is seen in FIGURE 1. The general shape of the pan 18 is of a shallow dish with three equally spaced, radial, raised embossments 28 having a top surface at a height slightly depressed from the top of the central disc 26 for supporting the turns of the spiral heating element thereon. The heating element 15 is attached to the reflector pan 18 on the radial embossment 28 that is the most remote from the hinging means 24 by welding the underside of the sheath of the element to the top surface of the embossment 28 as at 30 in FIGURE 1. It is well to allow the remainder of the heating element 15 to be unattached to the reflector pan so as to permit the necessary expansion and contraction of the spirals upon heatup and cool-down of the element. A large radial slot 32 r The perimeter of the reflector pan 18 is provided with a down-turned flange 34 to give some depth or thickness to the surface heating unit. The bottom pan 20 is also of shallow pan shape and of the size to fit within the flange 34 of the reflector pan 18. An inverted tripod 36 is attached to the underside of the reflector pan 18 at the center thereof. The tripod has three equally spaced, radial legs 37 with flattened feet 38 that are seated against the underside of the embossments 28 and are welded thereto. The center of the tripod 36 comprises a platform 40 which has a threaded opening 41 in the center thereof. The center of the bottom pan 20 is also formed with an opening 42, and a sheet metal screw 43 is threaded into the opening in the platform 40 for holding the unit together.

As is more or less standard in this art, a decorative trim ring 45 is adapted to overlie the periphery of the top portion of the side walls 13 of the recess 11 and to surround the heating element 17. One or more supporting brackets 47 are fastened to the underside of the trim ring 45 at a point remote from the hinging means 24, and this bracket has an inwardly projecting ledge 48 on which the flange 34 of the reflector pan 18 is seated, as is best seen at the left in FIGURE 1.

Now consideration will be given to the hinging means 24 which serves to support one side of the surface unit 15 and also allow the unit to be raised to an angle between about 60 and 90, as is best seen in FIGURE 4, so that the housewife may clean the spillage that might accumulate in the recess 11 of the cooktop 10. The hinging means comprises three main elements as best seen in the exploded view of FIGURE 3; namely, a cover plate 50, a rotatable drum 52 and a generally U-shaped bearing member 54 of elongated shape which is adapted to be fastened to the outer side of the cover plate 50 and to extend over the drum 52 as is best seen in the assembled view of FIGURE 1. The cover plate 50 has a relatively large rectangular opening 56 but of a size slightly smaller than the rectangular hole 12 in the side wall 13 of the recess 11. Since the side wall 13 is of generally circular configuration, the cover plate 50 is likewise curved to follow closely the curvature of the side wall 13.

The drum 52 is a hollow cylindrical member which is open at both ends. This drum has a diameter that is slightly larger than the height of the rectangular openings 56 in the cover plate 50, and the length of the drum 52 is longer than the width of the opening 56 in the cover plate as is clear from the plan view of FIGURE 2. Looking at FIGURE 3, the outermost side of the cover plate 50 is formed with arcuate seats 58 for receiving the ends of the drum 52. The drum 52 is held against the outer face of the cover plate 50 by the U-shaped bearing member 54. The bearing member 54 has a generally semicircular base 60 and a pair of generally parallel arms 61. The free ends of the arms 61 are provided with bent-over tabs 63 in the four corners of the bearing member for making engagement with the cover plate 50. Bendable tabs 65 are formed on the top and bottom edges of the cover plate 50 so that they may be folded down behind the tabs 63 of the bearing member 54 after the drum 52 is inserted in the bearing member 54 and the bearing member held in engagement with the outer side of the cover plate 50.

The drum 52 includes a plurality of small openings 67 and 69 which are diametrically opposed to each other and only slightly larger in size than the diameter of the cold terminals 22 of the heating element 17. Moreover, the bearing member 54 has a large opening 72 formed therein which removes the central portion of the semicircular base 60 of the bearing member so as to provide an opening having an effective size comparable to the size of the rectangular opening 56 in the cover plate 50 so as to permit the hinging means 24 with its terminals 22 extending therethrough to move so that the heating unit 15 may traverse an angle of about 60 from the normal horizontal heating position of FIGURE 1 to the maximum raised position of FIGURE 4.

A hinge arm 74 joins the heating unit 15 to the hinging means 24 by having its upper end 76 welded or otherwise attached to the inner side of the flange 34 of the reflector pan 18 as best seen in FIGURE 1. The opposite end of the hinge arm 74 is made integral with the rotatable drum 52 as at 78 in FIGURE 1. This hinge arm has a width only slightly less than the length of the drum 52 so as to form a cover for the four electrical terminals 22 of the two coils of the heating element 17 to give a neat, enclosed appearance.

The hinging means 24 is adapted to be inserted through the oversized opening 12 in the side wall 13 of the recess 11 with the cover plate 50 on the inner side of the recess and the drum 52 and its bearing member 54 on the outside of the recess as is clear from the drawing in FIGURE 1. Turning to FIGURE 3 it should be noted that the hearing member 54 includes a pair of adjustable fasteners 80 in the form of a spring finger at each side of the bearing member where the finger is made integral with the base 60 of the bearing member and has a free end 82 which is slightly spaced from the outermost side of the cover plate at the side thereof, as is best seen in FIGURE 2. These spring fingers 80 permit the hinging means 24 to be snapped in through the opening 12 of the recess. Since the hole 12 is oversized there is a certain amount of vertical, adjustment possible, thus the heating unit 15 seeks its own level to be substantially flush with the trim ring 45 and the cooktop and make up for any misalignment by permitting the positioning of the unit without having to adjust fastening screws and the like. In other words, the resilient fingers 80 cooperate with the cover plate 50' and provide a sliding connection between the hinging means 24 and the hole 12 of the recessed cooktop.

Modifications of this invention will occur to those skilled in this art. Therefore, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed but that it is intended to cover all modifications which are within the true spirit and scope of this invention as claimed.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An electric surface heating unit for a cooking appliance comprising a generally flat heating surface and a plurality of electrical terminals emanating from one side thereof; the invention comprising a hinging means for the unit through which the said terminals extend, said hinging means including a supporting plate with a large rectangular opening therein, a sheet metal drum on the outer side of the supporting plate and having a length greater than the width of said opening, and a sheet metal bearing member attached to the supporting plate and extending over the drum, and fastening means on opposite sides of the bearing member adapted to mount the hinging means to a supporting surface of the cooking appliance, the drum having diametrically opposed openings therethrough, and the bearing member having an opening therein comparable in size to the opening in the said supporting plate, an angular bracket member joined at one end to the heating unit and at the other end to the drum, the electric terminals extending through the said openings in the supporting plate, drum and bearing member.

2. An electric surface heating unit as recited in claim 1 wherein the said fastening means comprises resilient fingers each supported at one side on the bearing member and remote from the outer side of the supporting plate, the opposite end of each finger being slightly spaced from the supporting plate and outwardly from the side thereof.

3. A hinged surface heating unit for a cooking appliance comprising a generally flat electrically heated surface with electrical terminals grouped together and extending outwardly from one side thereof; the invention comprising a hinging means for the unit through which the electrical terminals extend, said hinging means including a supporting plate, a bearing member attached to the outermost side of the supporting plate, and a drum member seated in the bearing member, and a hinge arm connected at one end to the underside of the unit and its other end to the drum member, the supporting plate having a generally large rectangular opening where the said arm extends through said opening, the drum member having relatively small diametrically opposed openings for receiving the electrical terminals therethrough, and the bearing member having a relatively large opening therein generally in alignment with the opening in the supporting plate.

4. An electric cooking appliance, a top cooking surface having a recess therein, an electric surface heating unit positioned within the recess and including supporting means for holding the surface heating units generally flush with the top cooking surface, a plurality of electrical terminals emanating from the surface heating unit at one side thereof; the invention comprising a hinging means for the unit through which the said terminals extend, an opening in a side of the said recess in the top cooking surface in which the said hinging means is positioned, the hinging means including a supporting plate with a large rectangular opening therein, said plate adapted to lie within the recess and encircle the said opening in the side thereof, a drum positioned outside of the said opening and of a size larger than the opening in the supporting plate, and a bearing member attached to the supporting plate and extending over the drum, the drum having relatively small diametrically opposed openings for receiving the electrical terminals therethrough, the bearing member also having a relatively large opening therein generally in alignment with the opening in the supporting plate, and a hinge arm connected at one end to the surface heating units and at its opposite end to the said drum, the bearing member and drum being insertable through the said opening of the recess, an adjustable fastening means at opposite sides of the bearing member which cooperates with the supporting plate for holding the hinging means within the opening of the recess.

5. In an electric cooking appliance, a top cooking surface having a pan-shaped recess formed therein, where the recess has a bottom wall and raised side walls, a hinged electric surface heating unit adapted to be supported across the top of the recess and generally flush with the top cooking surface, the surface heating unit having a plurality of electrical terminals which are grouped together at one side of the heating unit in close side by side relation; the invention comprising a self-adjusting hinging means for the unit by which the unit is attached to the top cooking surface, a rectangular hole in the side wall of the recess, a rotatable drum, and a generally U-shaped bearing member supported from the back side of the cover plate and encircling the drum and holding the drum tightly against the cover plate, the cover plate having a relatively large opening therein, the drum having close fitting diametrically opposed openings therein for receiving the electrical terminals therethrough, and the bearing member having a relatively large opening therein, the said electrical terminals also extending through the said openings in the cover plate and bearing member, the cover plate being within the recess and encircling the hole in the side wall thereof, while the combined drum and bearing member extends outwardly through the hole in the side wall of the recess, and a hinge arm connected at one end to the surface heating unit and at its other end to the drum, an adjustable fastening means carried by the bearing member and cooperating with the cover plate to lock the hinging means in the hole of the recess.

6. An electric cooking appliance as recited in claim 5 wherein the said adjustable fastening means comprises a pair of diverging spring fingers, where there is one finger at each side of the bearing member, each finger having a free end which is slightly spaced from a side edge of the cover plate and outwardly thereof, whereby the hinging means may be pressed through the hole thereby slightly deflecting the said spring means until the cover plate bears against the side Wall of the recess and the spring fingers assume their original position, the vertical dimension of the said hole in the recess side wall being oversized so that the hinge means is vertically adjustable within the hole so that the heating unit may assume the proper horizontal position within the recess.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,624,827 1/1953 Young 219463 2,802,927 8/ 1957 Covert 219-463 3,051,818 8/1963 Prather 219-463 3,172,995 3/1965 Kirschke et al. 219463 3,227,856 1/1966 Hurko et al. 219-463 VOLODYMYR Y. MAYEWSKY, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

